Holding Out For A Hero
by Maoriel
Summary: Alya's jaw drops to the floor, Nino chokes on his drink and Adrien facepalms as he pats on his best friend's back. Marinette's left eye twitches. "That cheeky bastard," she mutters under her breath and glowers at her boyfriend. Luka only gives her one of his insufferably smug smirks.
1. Holding Out For A Hero

"I and Adrien have something to tell you."

Alya gives them a doubtful look as she sips her margarita. Her perfectly shaped eyebrow crawls towards her hairline as her hazel eyes narrow.

"You aren't going to tell us that you two were seeing each other this whole time and now are going to elope, right? Because, girl, I would whoop and pat your back five years ago, but now, I'm staring you in a disappointment and silently judge you."

Marinette purses her lips and gives her best friend a flat look.

"Gee, thanks for your faith in me, Alya. I've never thought you trusted my loyalty so much." Alya smirks at her and Marinette continues, "No, we are not going to elope."

Nino snorts as Alya sags in relief. Marinette feels how her heart clenches as she notices how silent Luka is. She feels how something coils in the pit of her stomach and her whole body tenses.

"Then what are you going to tell us?" Nino asks as he nurses his glass of beer, "that must be pretty important."

Marinette gulps and gives Adrien a grateful look as he squeezes her shoulder.

"I'm Ladybug and Adrien is Chat Noir," she says bravely and shuts her eyes tightly to not see her friends' expressions.

Nino and Alya only chuckle.

"Nice joke, Mari, now tell us why you gathered all of us here. Not that I'm unhappy to see you guys. Lord knows how I missed you."

Marinette opens her eyes and huffs.

"Well, I'm astonished that you believe in me so much."

Alya waves her hand in dismiss.

"Well, Mari, there's no way that you are Ladybug." Then suddenly her hazel eyes widen and she gapes at her, her eyes narrow and her brows furrow, "tell me what you did on the night when my sisters got akumatized."

A self-satisfied smirk finds its way on Marinette's lips.

"Gave you Rena Rouge's necklace and asked you to give it back to me after we cleansed the Akuma."

Alya gasps.

"Oh my god, it's you," she squeals, "I can't believe it..." her volume gets too high, but thankfully, Luka covers her mouth with his hand before she the attracts unnecessary attention from the other patrons.

Nino just blinks at them.

"Dude, that's sick."

Adrien snorts and shakes his head at his friend's response, but Marinette, who noticed her boyfriend's silence, gives the blue eyed male a hesitant look.

"You don't have anything to say, Luka?" she asks in a small voice.

Luka removes his hand from Alya's mouth and stands up, grabbing his guitar.

"It's my turn on stage," he says curtly as he leaves. Alya scoots near her dark-haired friend and gives her a side hug.

"It's probably a lot for him to take in, he'll come around," she says to Marinette and the dark-haired female nods, hugging her friend tighter and squeezing her eyes shut.

Then snapping them open as she hears her boyfriend's voice.

"I know that I was going to perform a new song today," Luka says and the audience cheers, "but, I thought about it and it's been a long time since I've sung a song that was dedicated to my girlfriend. A lot of you know her." The crowd cheers and nod and the spotlight finds Marinette's table. She flushes and awkwardly waves at them, still confused about her boyfriend's reaction. Luka just smirks and winks at her as he continues, "She's the most amazing person I have ever known. She's very brave and always helped me when I was in a pinch. You could say that Marinette is my personal..." He gives a dramatic pause, "superhero."

His aforementioned girlfriend just runs her hand on her face.

"I can't believe that I'm dating this dork." She mumbles and Alya just nods in her direction, shooting a sympathetic look at her. Luka just grins at them as he starts playing and Marinette gapes at him, her eyes widening as she hears the familiar notes.

"Oh my god."

Alya's jaw drops to the floor, Nino chokes on his drink and Adrien facepalms as he pats on his best friend's back.

Marinette's left eye twitches.

"That cheeky bastard," she mutters under her breath and glowers at her boyfriend.

Luka only gives her one of his insufferably smug smirks.

' _Where have the good men gone_

 _And where are all the gods..."_

"You've got to be kidding me," Alya says and fixes her glasses on her nose, like she wants to see the singer clearer. Adrien snorts and Marinette glares at him, that goofball probably thinks that her boyfriend's serenade is extremely funny.

' _I need a hero_

 _I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night_

 _She's gotta be strong_

 _And she's gotta be fast_

 _And she's gotta be fresh from the fight'_

"He changed the lyrics," Marinette protests and gives Alya a betrayed look as she bursts into laughing.

"Just the sex of the hero," she says between her guffaws and Marinette pouts and crosses her over her chest. Luka's smirk only widens as he growls,

' _Somewhere after midnight_

 _In my wildest fantasy_

 _Somewhere just beyond my reach_

 _There's someone reaching back for me_

 _Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat_

 _It's gonna take a supergirl to sweep me off my feet'_

"Someone kill me," The dark-haired woman says and watches how her boyfriend sings and growls, his nimble fingers dancing across the strings with his trademark Jagged Stone pin between them.

Luka gives his audience a broad grin as he finishes his song and bows elegantly. Marinette watches with a glower how he prances towards their table and slams down next to her.

"What was that," she growls at him and he gives her that insufferable smirk again. She usually kisses them off his face, but now she isn't on that mood.

"Just a tribute for my ladylove," he purrs and his girlfriend's eye twitches again. She points an accusatory finger at him.

"You knew!"

"Guilty as charged."

Marinette splutters.

"H-how?"

Luka shrugs.

"Well, you and Ladybug had exactly same heart tune and that tiny mask didn't cover a lot of your face. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out your identity."

Alya has the audacity to flush.

"How comes that you didn't figure out Adrien's identity?"

The blue-haired male shifts on his sit.

"Well I had my doubts, but they couldn't be confirmed since I didn't know Adrien or Chat Noir's heart tune."

Nino perks up at his response.

"And how did you know Ladybug's heart tune?"

Another smug smirk finds its way on the musician's face.

"Well, she used to carry me in a bridal style every time Akuma appeared near me. It looks like I was her favorite civilian."

Aforementioned heroine just gapes at him.

"You knew that this whole time? You almost gave me a heart attack when you stood up all broody and dark and 'it's my turn to perform'. I thought you were breaking up with me! I was going to burst into apologies and I was writing A WHOLE SPEECH in my head!"

"Well, I thought that I could be a little dramatic."

"You can be dramatic on the couch tonight," Marinette spits and stands up, grabbing her purse and storming out from bar with Luka hot on her heels and shouting her name.

Nino gives his girlfriend a concerned look.

"Should we go after them? This looks pretty bad."

Alya just makes a face.

"They'll get over it in fifteen minutes and you know what happens after that."

The DJ's tanned skin color changes into a healthy shade of green as he hurriedly finishes his glass of beer that he was sipping whole night (he was savoring it don't judge him!) and winces when he looks up and sees the calculating expression on his girlfriend's face.

"So, Adrien," she says in a sugary sweet voice, "since Mari left us, don't you want to tell us how everything started?"

Adrien shifts on his sit.

"We should probably talk about this in a more secluded place."

Nino nods.

"The truth has been spoken, bro," then his eyebrows furrow behind his spectacles, "by the way, why did you and Mari drag us here? Probably everyone could hear us."

Adrien grimaces.

"That was Mari's idea. She thought Alya wouldn't kill us in a crowded area."

Alya gasps.

"That hypocrite! And she was talking about my faith in her."

Nino wisely keeps her mouth shut and gives his blond friend an annoyed look as the bespectacled reporter bursts into a monologue about trust and true friendship. He carefully tugs her hand.

"Babe, Adrien was going to tell us about the whole thing."

Adrien looks at him with a betrayed expression on his face as Alya's face brightens, remembering that there's a large scoop for her to take.

"Nino's right, Sunshine Child, pay the bill and lead the way. You have a lot to make up."


	2. The Girl Who Swept Him Off His Feet

After six years of facing Akumas, it was pretty safe to say that Parisians don't bat a single eyelash when another victim of Hawkmoth appears.

Of course it was terrible that the man took advantage of their friends, but human is very adaptable creature and after a year of living together with Akumas they didn't paralyze anymore when another roaring monster appeared and after few years, some of them even put them in their daily schedules, like: wake up at 06:30 AM, shower, have breakfast, wait until the Akuma appears, then wait until Ladybug and Char Noir take care of them, then go to work. Don't forget to grab a couple of croissants at Dupain-Chengs on your way.

Luka Couffaine is amongst of those Parisians. After he fruitlessly scrambled on his feet and tried to avoid current Akuma's claws, only to be grabbed by it, he just crosses his hands over his chest and gives it his best flat look. A part of him feels guilty, since he was the reason why Hawkmoth akumatized this guy, but he couldn't just lose in rock bands battle because he feared that some sore loser would threw a feat.

"You ruined my life, Couffaine!" The Akuma screeches in his ear as it shakes him in his fist like a rag doll and Luka winces from its roar's volume and rough fondling.

"I really didn't," he says dryly.

"Yes, you did!" The Akuma insists, "Now my reputation is ruined, no one is going to take me seriously!" He wailed.

Luka sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, praying that Ladybug or Chat Noir will appear as soon as possible and end his misery. Usually Luka is a pretty chill guy, always trying to calm his associates, knowing that Hawkmoth could exploit even the smallest of frustrations (once he akumatized a child who dropped his ice cream on the concrete), but now he hasn't slept for last 48 hours and is running purely on caffeine. So, needless to say - Luka Couffaine is pretty pissed off, longing to just go to his apartment and snuggle with Marinette.

He opens his mouth to retort, but someone beats him in before he says something.

"He really didn't."

Luka turns his head, a tired smile slipping on his face as Ladybug throws her yo-yo in their direction, wrapping its string around the pole standing nearby. Her eyes are blazing with the fury as she launches herself at them, kicking the Akuma squarely in the face and successfully catching it off guard.

The Akuma wobbles on its feet, opening the fist and dropping Luka from fifty feet height.

Luka is famous with his voice - deep and velvety, thundering when he growls, seductive when he sings the ballads written specially for Marinette. His voice gets husky when Marinette scratches his back, throwing her head backwards and moaning his name like a mantra, but it never, never ever gets high pitched.

Until now.

The lead male vocalist of 'La Marée' releases not so manly squeak as the air rushes in his ears, the land getting impossibly close in impossibly short time. He barely hears how Ladybug screams his name as he flails his arms, only wishing to see Marinette's heaven blue eyes before he hits the concrete.

But instead of her lovely irises spotted red mask and equally blue eyes appear before him as Ladybug crashes at him like a bullet, wrapping her arms around him as she maneuvers herself to get under him before they hit the land. She breaks the landing for him, but it still knocks the air out of his lungs. She's probably in worse state after cushioning their fall for him.

Luka gasps for the air as he rolls off from her. His shoulder aches and his arm probably got dislocated. Luka winces - Marinette will kill him.

Ladybug coughs and he quickly stands up, thrusting his hand in her direction and helping her to rise on her feet. She gives him a thankful smile as her eyes sparkle with worry and adoration. His brows knit together - where did the last expression come from?

"Thank you," she whispers and leans forward, supporting herself with her palms on her knees and panting as she tries to catch her breath. The blue haired male only shakes his head.

"No, thank you, Ladybug," a wry smile appears on his lips, "he would probably squeeze the life out of me or make a Luka pancake."

He expects a giggle from her, but only a frown makes its way in her face.

"That's not very nice thought." She tells him and Luka smiles at her.

"Probably not, but you get this kind of humor after a few Akumas caused by you even if you didn't want it."

Ladybug furrows her eyebrows, but gives him an amused smile, which slips out from her face as the earth shakes beneath their feet. She curses under her breath and grabs him before he asks what is happening (probably a very unnecessary question). Ladybug gathers him in a bridal style and jumps in the air, landing on the nearest rooftop without any fuss.

He's cramped awkwardly in her arms due their height difference and it only gets worse when her grip gets tighter on him, accidentally shoving his face in her chest. Luka grits his teeth (he's one lady's man, thank you very much and doesn't enjoy burying his head in random women's breasts, even if they're famous superheroines and sweethearts of whole Paris), but doesn't struggle since even a toddler knows that throwing a feat when you are in mid-air isn't the best of ideas.

Ladybug jumps on another rooftop, smoothly landing on it and then jumping on another, her arms getting even tighter around him. His ear is directly on her heart, its beat echoing in his head.

And then Luka's eyes snap open.

Because that heartbeat, that heart tune. He knows it better than his own after two years on sleeping on it and writing melodies that it has inspired.

It's Marinette's heartbeat and heart tune!

His eyes search Ladybug's face and notices similarities between her and his girlfriend: the stubborn strand of hair that always stands up, defying any laws of gravity, the freckle under her left ear, the panting that is oh so familiar to him.

The heavenly blue eyes with the speckles of dark violet and gray swirling in them. The pair of eyes that only one woman in whole Paris, no - in the whole world possess.

His breath catches in his throat. How hadn't he noticed it until now!

The flying suddenly stops and he hears a muffled thud as they land. He barely feels how carefully Ladybug releases him from her vice like grip, too awestruck to notice anything happening.

His mind barely registers that she dropped him in front of his and Marinette's house, even though he didn't tell her his address.

"Well, that's our stop," she says and scratches the back of her neck as her lips curl into an awkward smile. That quirk is so painfully familiar that his heart squeezes in his chest.

"It was nice to see you," he tells her and her awkward expression shifts into a bewildered one, confused by the sudden warmth and fondness that soaked his voice. He suddenly realizes that it is his girlfriend, who's going to be thrown around everywhere by the Akuma and suddenly he wants nothing more than gathering her in his arms and hiding her from the entire world.

How many Akumas did she fight in the past years? How much of them were caused by him? The shame burns in the pit of his stomach and Luka wishes a hole to open under his feet and swallow him whole or a large rock to crawl beneath it.

"Maybe I should quit."

Ladybug jerks.

"Huh?"

"Maybe I should quit," he repeats, waving his hand around him, "this competitions. They only cause Akumas, throwing you and Chat Noir in the danger."

Ladybug's confused stare hardens.

"You won't," she says flatly and Luka looks at her. Her eyes are blazing like the flames of holy fire. "Just because some of them can't accept that they've lost, doesn't mean that you should quit competitions."

"But you and Chat Noir..." he protests.

"I and Chat Noir were taking care of this for past seven years," she cuts him off, "you can't change anything before Hawkmoth is here. You shouldn't say no to your passions because of him." Then her stormy expression disappears without a trace and her face breaks in the gentle smile that he always adored, "but I'm thankful that you care enough about that."

His answering smile is strained. Ladybug takes off her yo-yo that's wrapped around her waist like a sash and twirls it in the air. She gives him a mock salute.

"Got an Akuma to take care of," her yo-yo gets tossed up in the air and wraps around the tree branch, she tugs its string, testing it. When she deems it safe to launch herself in Akuma's direction, she turns around with a brilliant smile on her face, "be safe, Luka."

Luka only nods dumbly, watching how she swings from building to building. Gracefully landing and running on the rooftops. His heart clenches, uncertain about the future, uncertain what to do. Should he confront her about her superhero persona? Ask her about it? Tell her that he knows it, that he's always ready to listen to her frustrations, her thoughts. He's always ready to share her burden, be the shoulder that she always can lean onto.

Then he remembers that Marinette didn't tell him about it. Probably not even her parents and Alya know about it. For some reason, Marinette hid it from him and everyone.

Other men would probably be angry and demand answers from her, but Luka just sighs. Above everyone and everything, he trusts Marinette and if she didn't tell him about being Ladybug, then there's a solid reason for it. All he can do is to sit and patiently wait until the time of identity reveal comes.

"Be safe, Marinette," he mutters when the red jumping spot disappears from his sight.

* * *

 **It was supposed to be fluffier than cotton candy tbh.**

 **Also, to be honest this was originally supposed to be a one shot and publishing it as an unfinished story was a pure coincidence. But, then miracle happened and new ideas appeared in my mind, so voila.**

 **Supportive Luka is my life and about his band - I changed its name. Pardon my French (since I can only say my name in French) if I named it incorrectly (blame Google Translate), but it means the tide, water and although Marinette means 'the one who rises', the first part of her name sounds like 'sea', so yeah. Luka basically named his band after his girlfriend, sue us.**


End file.
